Protecting a product idea

No one can own an idea, thought or imaginary target state. Once an idea begins to crystallise into an actual solution, tool, method, item, shape, product name or similar documented end result, it can become the intellectual property of the inventor to which exclusive rights can be applied.

The best way to retain exclusivity to an idea is to keep competitors in the dark. Confidentiality is key in the processing of ideas: only discuss product ideas with trusted persons and, if necessary, ensure confidentiality through agreements. Once the product ideas begin to take visible and tangible shape, you must begin to plan how creative efforts directed at them could be exploited in the market under exclusive rights.

Intellectual property rights (IPR) pertain to the terms on which companies (or private individuals) can have ownership of intangible things, i.e. intellectual capital or the results of unique idea creation processes. Some intellectual property rights are automatically granted to the inventor: these rights include the copyrights that are gained by authors, composers, photographers, visual artists and similar creators of artistic works. Copyright holders can decide how the work they own will be manufactured or sold to the public.

Rights of ownership form another part of intellectual property rights. They can be obtained, registered or purchased for the commercially exploitable results of idea creation processes. These rights are industrial rights that can be used when creative idea creation efforts result in a new invention, product, method, service innovation, product design, product name or product mark. Commercial operators can use industrial rights to protect the results of their product development against copying and imitation by competitors.

The most common industrial rights are patent, utility model, design right and trademark. If a company or private individual holds one of these industrial rights registered in Finland, the company or individual can forbid other Finnish entrepreneurs from using the protected creation for commercial purposes.

Using industrial rights to protect product ideas

Roughly speaking, industrial rights cover the product’s name, design or technology in the following ways:

Product dimension

Protection methods

Product name

(word, pattern, slogan or combination of letters)

Trademark

Registering a trademark grants the exclusive right to use it as a symbol of the item or service in question within Finland: no one other than the holder of the registration may use the trademark in their business operations.

By registering a design right, you can protect new designs against imitation: with certain exceptions, the holder of the registration is granted exclusive rights to use the design in Finland in such a way that others cannot use the design without the holder’s permission.

Technology

(the product as a concrete, technical solution, device or method)

Patent

A patent can be applied for an invention, and a granted patent entails the right to prohibit: the holder of the patent is entitled to prohibit the professional utilisation (production, sale, use, etc.) of solutions accordant with the patent.

Utility model

The utility model is a right to prohibit similar to a patent, but it costs less and involves less stringent criteria:
the holder has the right to prohibit the professional utilisation of solutions accordant with the utility model.

In other words, different protection methods are suitable for different products and product dimensions. A patent has the strictest requirements, since only inventions that are new, useful and feasible for implementation are granted patents. For this reason, the utility model is often used to protect products that are not quite acceptable for patenting.

The name and product mark or identifier of a productised service can be protected with a registered trademark. However, the actual service concept or service idea cannot be protected. It can be freely imitated by competitors.

Protection methods also differ in terms of costs, so companies must utilise cost calculations to create strategies indicating the protection methods to be emphasised and the core products regarded as requiring protection.

Industrial rights only protect product ideas in the country where the rights have been registered. When aiming for new foreign market areas, the product protection abroad must be planned and resolved on a country-specific basis.

Enforce your rights

A company registering its right to a certain trademark, invention or design solution will not, by itself, prevent its competitors from violating this right. The Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH), Finnish Customs or other official bodies do not monitor the implementation of industrial rights or control products on the market to find brand forgeries. Companies themselves must monitor their competitors and locate any possible infringements upon their rights.

As indicated above, industrial rights are rights to prohibit: holders of the right can prohibit their competitors from utilising a product idea they have protected. Companies must create procedures and processes to ensure that these rights are upheld. Patent agents or other competent experts are valuable partners in this endeavour.